Hurt Places 20th In NCAA 3,000m Steeplechase Semifinals
EUGENE, ORE. - Furman senior Tripp Hurt finished 20th with a time of 8:56.01 in the 3,000m Steeplechase national semifinals Wednesday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.
Hurt, a senior from Bogart, Ga., broke his own school record and advanced to the NCAA semifinal race after placing second in his heat and ninth overall with a time of 8:41.63 at the NCAA East Preliminary meet two weeks ago in Jacksonville. He also finished 20th last season with a time of 8:57.27 in the national semifinals of the event after placing sixth with a time of 8:44.28, the previous Paladin record, at the NCAA East Preliminaries.
The 2015 Furman Male Athlete of the Year, Hurt was named the SoCon Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year after winning the individual title and leading the Paladins to their second-straight conference team championship. He was also named the SoCon Men’s Indoor Track Most Outstanding Athlete and Most Outstanding Performer after winning the league title in both the 3,000m and 5,000m in February. The first Furman men’s runner to earn All-SoCon honors four-consecutive years for cross country, Hurt helped the Paladins to a second-place finish at the NCAA regional cross country meet, where he led the team with an eighth place finish to earn all-region honors.
Senior Sinead Haughey will compete in the finals of the 10,000m on Thursday, June 11, at 6:38 p.m. (PDT). A senior from Central, S.C., she advanced to the finals after placing seventh with a time of 34:05.80 at the NCAA East Preliminaries two weeks ago. Haughey qualified for the regional meet in the event for the second-straight year after recording a time of 33:53.34 to set a new Paladin record at the Stanford Invitational in April.
Haughey, who was chosen the Paladins’ Team MVP for outdoor track and field for the second-consecutive season, bested her own school record in the 5,000m with a time of 16:26.04 at the Raleigh Relays in March. She won the league title in the 5,000m with a time of 17:04.84 and finished fifth with a time of 4:23.40 in the 1,500m at the SoCon outdoor meet. Haughey also holds Paladin indoor records in the 3,000m (9:27.51) and the 5,000m (16:35.17).
Bulldogs Open Competition At NCAA Championships
EUGENE, Ore. - A pair of Samford University track and field athletes competed in the opening day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field on Wednesday, June 10.
Redshirt freshman Tray Oates was the first Bulldog to take the stage. The Acworth, Georgia native posted a no height in the men's pole vault at the entering mark of 5.15m.
Two hours later junior Brandon Hazouri attempted to advance to the finals of the men's 800 meters. The Birmingham, Alabama native drew a spot in the third and final heat of the semifinals with the reigning outdoor champion Brandon McBride of Mississippi State.
Hazouri finished the race 8th in his heat with a time of 1:51.63 and 23rd overall.
Samford has one more student-athlete waiting to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships as freshman Keyth Fightmaster will take part in the men's high jump on Friday, June 12, at 6 p.m. (CT)